Paper-folding machine



4 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. W. PORTER.

Patented June '7, 1887.

PAPER FOLDING MACHINE.

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J. W. PORTER.

PAPER FOLDING MACHINE.

No. 364,293. Patented June 7, 1887.

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(No Model.) 7 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. W. PORTER.

PAPER FOLDING MACHINE.

No. 364,293. Patented June 7, 1887.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. W. PORTER.

PAPER FOLDING MACHINE. v

No. 364,293; Patented June '7, 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEIcE.

J. WOOD PORTER, OF MORRIS, ILLTNOIS.

PAPER-FOLDING MACHINE.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,293,6lated June 7, 1887.

Application filed August 25, 1884. Renewed March 5. 1887. Serial No. 329,867. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be itknown that I, J. VOOD PORTER, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Morris, in the county of Grundy and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Folding Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

Figure l is a plan view on the top. Fig. 2 is an edge View of the first table, P, looking at Fig. l in the direction of arrow 1, and a side view of the delivery-tapes and their supporting-pulleys, having an adjustable extending tape attachment, and showing that portion of a printingpress from which a paper is delivered to the machine. Fig. 3is a side elevation of the machine,looking in the direction of arrow 1 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a side elevation of the machine, looking in the direction of arrow 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a side view of the receptacle into which the folded paper is delivered and its operating mechanism, having a portion of one side broken away, and a cross-section of table P and compressing-rolls 1 y; Fig. 6, a detailed view of a portion of Figs. 8 and 4, looking down from line a:. Fig. 7 isadetailed sectional view of one of the turn-tables of one of the telescopic arms that operate the foldingblades, showing the manner in which the arm is pivoted to the frame of the machine. Fig. 8 is a side view of one of the telescopic arms detached from the machine, showing the manner in which it is attached to a folding-blade and pivoted toits operating drive-chain. 'Fig. 9 is a view of a telescopic arm, having portions broken away to show its interior construclion; Fig. 10, a cross-sectional view of one of the sections of one of the telescopic arms. Fig. 11 is a crosssectional view of table P and a portion of table P" and their ad jacent and accompanying parts on line 01: of Fig. 3. Fig. 12 is an edge view of table 1?, looking in the direction of arrow 3, Fig.1, and a side view of a portion of a paper-receptacle for holding the folded paper, located immediately under said table. Fig. 13 is aperspective view of a single section of the paper-receptacle shown in Fig: 12. Fig. 14 is a top plan view of one end of a paper-receptacle such as is shown in Fig. 5.

This invention relates to certain improvements in paper-folding machines, and is designed to fold newspapers as they are printed and leave a printing-press, or for folding any other kind of paper that may be desired, and whether delivered to it from a press orin any other manner. This machine is shown as arranged to make four folds in the paper, the folds being made by means of descending blades secured to a traveling sprocket-chain, that strike the paper at the place where it is to be folded and carry it forward through a slot across the face of the table, on which it is delivered. The several tables are arranged in a train with relation to each other and having their planes at right angles with each other, so that when a fold is made carrying the paper through a slot it is delivered 011 the face of the next succeeding slotted table for the next fold to be made until all the folds are sue.- cessively made and the paper delivered folded. The several folding-sections are substantially duplicates of each other, and may he multiplied to make as many folds as desired, and a description of one of the folding-sections will suffice for all, or substantially so.

Referring to the drawings, A and A constitute the skeleton frame which supports the.

operating parts, and are secured to each other by the cross-bars B, B, and 13, Figs. 1, 8, 4.

P, P, P, and P are the several slotted tables supported by said frame and cross-bars, upon which tables the paper to be folded comes in contact, or is spread.

The paper is first delivered from the cylinder of a printing-press by means of tapes 0 and 12, Figs. 1 and 2. The respective tables are each provided withaslot, z, z, a, and e, which extends from one side nearly across the table, or as far as the paper to be folded is wide, and is located about the center of the table. The table P stands vertically under table P, next to and at the side of slot z, so

that when the folding-blade E carries the paper.

folded through said slot it will deliver it against the face of table P, between it and the shields R R and spring-clamps L L. Table P stands vertically behind table P, with its plane at right angles with that of table P, as shown more clearly in Fig. 11 and by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, so that when folding-blade E can ries the paper, folded the second time,through slot 2' of table P it will deliver it against the face of table P between it and shields R, R Table P lies horizontally behind vertical table P with its plane at right angles with that of table P, as shown in Fig. 1, so that when folding-blade E carries the paper, folded the third time, through slot 2 in table P it will deliver it on table P Folding-blade E then descends and carries the paper, folded the fourth time, through the slot 2 of table P between the pair of pressingrollers y 3 Figs. 5 and 12 and dotted lines Fig. 4, which rollers are secured to the under side of the table P and immediately overa receptable into which the folded papers are deposited.

The slots through the several folding-tables are lined on either side by the thin springplates 1 and r, curved, as shown, so they will not be caught by the operating parts. The inner edge of plate 1" is attached to the top of the table next the slot and its outer edge left free, while plate 1- has each edge secured, one in the same manner as plate 1* and the other edge to the face of the next succeeding table through the slot, except, however, in the case of table P where the outer edges of both spring-plates are left free, as shown in Figs. 5 and 12. These spring-plates serve to press slightly against the sides of the paper as it is being carried through the slots by the folding-blades, so as to hold the paper in place while the folding is being done.

The outer ends of the slots in the respective tables are covered bya yoke. (Shown, respectively, att t t and t These yokes serve to unite the two parts of the respective tables separated by the said slots, and also to guide the folding-blades more certainlyinto the slots.

The first table, P, is free on its upper surface,with the exception of the delivering-tapes a, while tables P, P, and P are each respectively provided with shields R R, NR, and R R set alittle distance from its respectivetable, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 11. These plates or shields are secured at their ends to the face of the tables and serve to hold the paper folded between them and their respective tables after the folding-blades are withdrawn. The front edges of these shields are rounded,so as to prevent the paper or the folding -blades from catching 011 them when the machineis backed.

S is a counter-shaft located at the upper part of the machine in boxes in frames A A, and has rigidly secured thereto the chainwheels W and W and a sheavewheel, b, and is driven by chain 0 over chain-wheel WV from a corresponding chain-wheel on the shaft of a printing-press.

S is the main shaft of the machine, and has rigidly secured on it the wheels K", K K, and W and is rotated by chain c on chain-wheels W and K Near the open slotted edge of each table is arranged an endless chain on suitable chain-wheels, having pivotally attached thereto a thin extending foldingblade, and each such blade is attached to atel'escopic arm, and each such arm is pivoted near its outer end to the frame of the machine. Each one from the fold in the paper.

of the slotted tables is thus provided with a folding-blade, which is carried in a circuit by its drive-chain and caused to descend through the slot of its proper table to carry the paper forward and make a fold, and then withdraw The sprocketohain that operates the first folding-blade of the first folding-table, P, is shown at a, Figs. 1

and 3, and is carried, as shown in Figs. 1 and.

3, on sprocket-wheel D and the idler-wheelsd and d, and receives its motion from said wheel D, which is keyed on short shaft S ,'boxed in frame A. Ghain-wheel W" is also keyed to 1 shaft S at the inner side of said frame, and

these said wheels are caused to rotate by means of chain c on wheel WV of shaft S and wheel VV of drive-shaft S. The chain a travels in the direction of its accompanying arrow, and has pivotally attached to it the folding-bladc E, which travels with said chain a. This blade is also attached to the outer end of the telescopic arm H, which is pivoted near its inner end to the frame A at J. When this folding-blade E commences its circuit, it is in a position similar to that of folding-blade E, Fig. 4, and extends out over table P through the-yoke to directly over slot 2, and when in such position the telescopic arm H stands in a perpendicular position, with its joint extended to reach that point, and will hold said folding-blade parallel with the upper face of said table P. When the chain a travels, it will carry said foldingblade down through said slot 2 and along the face of vertical folding-table P, which stands next to said slot 2, and between said table P and the shields R R,

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as shown in Fig. 3, until it has reached thebase of said table P and said shields, when its point of attachment to said chain a passes around idler-wheel d, and said blade is with drawn horizontally from between table P and said shields R It, and from the first fold it has made in the paper, by striking itabout its center and carrying it folded once down through said slot and leaving itstand vertical between table P and said shields R It and springclamps L L. (Shown in Fig. 3.) In said Fig. 3 the first folding-blade, E, just mentioned, is shown as just hzwingdcseendcd through slot z of table P and between vertical table P and said shields, and about one-half its way down, as it would appear carrying a folded paper with it off of table P. The telescopic arm H renders it possible for chain a to carry blade E around the circuit described.

The next succeeding endless chain, a", has attached to it the next foldingblade in order, E, and is carried by the drive-wheel D and idler-wheels d (1 which are respectively boxed to cross-bars B and B, and the foldingblade E is attached to and conducted by said chain for the same purpose and in precisely the same manner as is folding-blade E, hereinbefore described. This folding-blade carries thepaper with it, folded the second time, through slot 2 of second table, P, that stands vertically undertable P, and leaves it between the face of table P and its shields R It, and is then withdrawn, the same as blade E, by means of chain (L The mechanism that drives wheel I) is shown more fully in detail in Fig. 6 and by the dotted lines in Figs. 3 and 4.

e is a shaft boxed to frame A and cross-bar B, and has rigidly attached to it the wheel D and a miter-gear, e, which meshes into miter-gear c on shaft 0, which is bracketed to cross-bar B. On this shaft 6 is keyed chain-wheel e, which is driven by chain c from said wheel 6 and chain-wheel K on shaft S, Figs. 1 and 3. The next endless chain, a, that is carried by the wheel D and the two idler-wheel d d, carries the third folding knife or blade, E. This chain and said wheels are supported on the frame A, (shown in Figs. 1, 4,) and which attaches to frame A cross-bar B and secondary frame A. This chain has attached to it the foldingblade E, in the same manner as the other folding-blades are attached to the other chains frame A, Fig. 0.

described, and conducts said folding-blade through slot 2 of table P onto the horizontal surface of the last folding-table, 1?, under the shields It and R and is then withdrawn from the folded paper as the other folding-blades are, thus placing the third fold in the paper.

The mechanism that operates wheel D is shown in Figs. 1 and 4. The drivewheel D and miter-gear m are keyed toa short shaft which is boxed in frame A.

w is a shaft boxed at one end in the frame A and bracketed to frame AFat the other end, and has keyed thereon a mitengear, a), which meshes with mitergear w, and is driven by chain c on the said chainwhcel and chaiuwheel W" on drive'shaft S, Fig. 1.

The next and last end-less chain, a, that has attached to it the last foldingblade, E, is can ried by drive-whcel D and the idler-wheels d (2 which are attached to the secondary frame A, which attaches at its ends to the cross-bars B and B. Said chain conducts the folding-blade E through slot 2* in table P, in the same manner as the other folding-blades are conducted through the slots in their re spective tables, to carry the paper through it, and thus form the fourth fold in the paper. The drive-wheel D and chain-wheel K" are both keyed to a short shaft boxed in frame A, and are driven by chain c from chain-whecl K on driveshaft S. The telescopic arm H,that carries foldingknife E, is pi voted to crossbar B at J. (See Fig. 4.). Telescopic arm 1-1, that carries folding-blade E, is pivoted to cross-bar B at J' Telescopic arm H, that carries folding'blade E, is pivoted to frame A at Ji, Fig. 3, and telescopic arm H, that carries folding-blade E, is pivoted at J to the The special construction of one of the telescopic arms is shown in Figs. 8, 9, and 10. H represents the. barrel, into which the bar h slides telescopically, and is provided with the stud m, by means of which it pivots to the vided on its inner surface with a projection,

i, which engages with a similar projection, i on the bar h It, so it cannot pull outof the barrel H. The telescopic arm is attached to its chain a by means of a sleeve, 0,which has on its side a wristpin thatpasses through the eye 0 on one of the links of the chain. This sleeve 0 is arranged to slide on the outer end of said bar or arm and impinges against the coilspring h", which has the tendency to hold the sleeve 0 out toward the outer end of the arm or bar h. The springalso permits the sleeve 0 to be more readily conveyed in its circuit with the chain to which it attaches and turn around the wheels that bear the chain more readily than if it were rigidly fixed to the bar. Fig. 7 shows the manner in which the telescopic arm attaches to the frame A, m being a seat,fastened to the frameA by means of the screw-bolts m, forming a wide flat surface for the circular plate J (which is integral with stud m") to rest on and form abearing that prey'ents any rolling of the telescopic arm. After the paper has received its last fold by being carried through slot of table 1?, Fig. 12, it is passed between a pair of compressing-rollers, y y, to compress its folds, and is then deposited in the receptacle for holding the folded papers until they can be removed. This receptacle is shown in Figs. 13, 3, 4, and 12, and is constructed as follows:

B is an endless chain mounted on suitable rollers at each end, one of which is shown at T, Fig. 12, which rollers may be bracketed to the frameof the machine, the upper one directly under the slot .2" of the last folding-ta ble, P, as shown in said figure. To each link of said chain is attached a crossbar, B, Fig. 13, terminating at each end in the upturned points or arms'B, and held in proper position and at the right distance apart by the strapbelts B, as shown at Fig. 13.

One end of roller T is furnished with a ratchet-wheel, B", which turns roller T, with the chain 3 intermittently, by means of the pawl 13, which is operated by and attached to crank-pin b of disk I) on shaft cflthat receives its motion from the machine, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 6, and 12. Then the folded papers drop from between the rollers 3 y,they fall between these arms B, which stand wide apart at that place, as shown in Fig. 12, as they pass around shaft T. The ratchet B intermittently rotates the chain B with these arms B, so that every time a paper drops it will drop between the next succeeding pair of arms until they are all full, and can be removed by the operat0r,at

will, without stopping the machine, and is intended to be used when the folder is attached to a large and rapid printing press, where it is not practicable to stop the press to remove the, foldedpapcrs; but when the folder is used in connection with a small and slow printingpress, and where it is practicable to stop, a smaller and more simple receptacle is used, such as is shown in Figs. 5 and 14.

Referring to said figures, N is a trough, located immediately under the folding-table P, so its slots y" at one'end will be exactly under the rolls 3 y of said table, so the folded papers may fallin said trough from said rolls.

a is a movable or sliding head having a slide, 16", attached to its bottom and passing through a slot in the bottom of said trough N. This slide a has an opening in its lower end and arranged to ride or slide on a bar, a, which is bracketed to the bottom oftrough N. A coil-spring, u on bar a presses against slide a, forming a flexible backing for the sliding head a, and a spring-latch, a, attached to head a and arranged to engage with the ratchetteeth a, holds the head a from being pressed forward by said spring. A plunger, u", having the head a attached to a crank-pin on chain-wheel x, which is bracketed to the ma vchine, reciprocates said head a back and forth past the slots 3/ y", and at each such forward movement takes a folded paper from said slots 3 y and deposits it against head a. The lugs to prevent the return of the paper with the said plunger. Oh ain-wheel x is rotated by a chain from ehain-wheelf, placed on shaft e,(in place of disk If.) As papers aecu mulate the head a is pushed back and so held by the spring-catch a. Each telescopic arm is so constructed that when their folding-blades have passed through their respective slots and traveled along the surface of their respective tables, and the papers they have folded have been conducted far enough for the next succeeding fold to be made, and before their pivoted connections with their respective traveling chains have reached a point where they pass around the second idler-wheel, the said arms will be completely telescoped and their sections be cushioned on their respective cushions i Fig. 9; and in order that said pivoted connections with said chains may pass around said last idler-wheel the sleeves 0' will slide along on their respective bars and permit such passage, the springs h returning said sleeves as soon as such point is passed, thus arresting the folding-blades when they have done their work and causing them to be withdrawn. \Vhen the folding-blades are withdrawn from the fold in the paper, the telescopic bar or arm to which they attach will slightly elevate the outer end of the foldingblades to raise it directly up off of the paper before it is withdrawn, so it will not injure or The folding-knives are attached pull it out.

to the telescopic arms by means of the slotted plate F, (shown in Figs. 3 and 8,) by means of proper set-bolts passing through said slots. This mode of attachment permits the vertical adjustment of the folding-blades to accommodate them to different-sized sheets of paper to be folded. WVhcn the paper to be folded is small, the foldingblades may be set farther up, so as not to descend as far as when the shee is large.

The arrangement of the tapes for delivering the paper from a press to the folder 1s shown in Fig. 2. The tapes '0 on table are placed on pulleys v o, and may continue on to pulley e, or separate tapes may be used from pulley 2) each way, as may be desired. Pulley o is supported by arm m, attached to plate y, to extend out from the table P. Arm m is made adjustable by means of slot n 1n its inner end, and held in any desired positlon by set-screws a in plate 7 to adapt the tape to a press of any height. .Secondary tapes 2)" are arranged on suitable pulleys above tape a, so the paper maybe taken in between said tapes asit is delivered fromthe tapes of a printingpress from the cylinder G and rolls 1, 2, and 3. Stops T T (shown in Fig. 3) stop the pa per when it reaches its proper position on table P. As soon as a paper leaves table P another may at once he delivered on it, so several papers my be in the process of being folded at once.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows, to wit:

1. In a paper-folding machine, a series of folding-blades pivotally attached to a ser es of endless traveling chains mounted on suitable wheels and properly guided by a series of pivoted telescopic arms, in combination with .a series of slotted folding-tables, constructed and arranged substantially as shown, said blades being adapted to fold a paper in the manner substantially as set forth.

2. In the paper-folding machine described, the sleeves 0, in combination with the telescopic arms described, having the coil-springs h endless chains a a a a, and the foldingblades E E E E, as and for the purpose set forth.

J. VOOD PORTER.

Vitnesses:

'lnos. H. HUTOIIINS, XVM. J. HUTCHINS. 

